I can feel it, I conceal it
E. A Solinas | MD USA | 04/01/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Personally, I've been tapping my foot in anticipation of the Futureheads' next album, which is going to drop sometime in 2008.
And from the sound of the "Beginning of the Twist" single, it's going to be worth waiting for -- the British post-punkers embrace a dancy, punky angular sound in their first single. And though the attached B-side isn't quite as clean-cut or catchy, it's still a pleasant little song.
It kicks off with a whirling riff and solid drums, morphing into a driving, tightly-wound punk-dance number. "It's time to wake up/It's time to change," Barry Hyde calls out over the energetic music. "Let's get it started/I feel like there's so much to rearrange/Come on, I need your help with this/Why don't we get it started with a kiss?"
But the song takes a slightly more ominous turn: "If memory serves/Then why am I still waiting for it to return?/My head feels like it's just about to slip... Today I don't feel so ill/If only I could find the time, I want to kill." Somebody's going a little nuts, it sounds like -- sounds like that is the "twist" that is felt and concealed.
It's paired up with "Get Out Today," a blurrier, lo-fi affair that rides on a crest of loose blazing riffs. "I'm in no fit state to/sit down and negotiate with you/I could never read your face/your smile so easy to replace," Hyde sings as the guitars start pumping themselves up for another wild chorus.
This is basically your average single, with an above-average song paired with a solid-but-not-great B-sude. "Beginning of the Twist" is an energetic, polished song with plenty of energy, and "Get Out Today" is a song that shows the Futureheads off in their rougher, rawer state.
I have to admit, it took a little while for "Beginning of the Twist" to really grow on me. But grow it did, with those angular riffs tightly twisted in with the smashing drums and driving basslines. The later music is much looser and less angular -- the bass is all blurry fuzz with muscular little riffs surfacing out of it, and some drums as a background beat.
And Barry Hyde hasn't changed his vocal style at all -- he still yowls dramatically over the music, in a muscular laddish voice. And these guys are improving further in more subtle songwriting ("Forgive me, my mind is elsewhere/Feels like somebody's thrown it down the stairs"), which bodes well for the rest of the forthcoming album.
The Futureheads are apparently going in an angular, dancey, punky direction, with "Beginning of the Twist" leading the way for them. Definitely worth checking out, but it will whet the appetite for more."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1